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Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Overdue Update

I know this update is well overdue, but I am just now finding the time to share.

Saturday morning found me giddy as a teenage school girl on her first date. I have been waiting and counting the days for the Self Reliance Expo to come to a city near me and it finally did.
I have seen my fair share of gun shows, but I have never seen anything like this and was excited to be in a huge building full of like minded folks all doing the same thing I do.

Whatever label you put on yourselves being a prepper, a survivalist, a radical, a homesteader or whatever you call yourself if anything at all, you are a minority doing what you do. It is hard to find people that think the same much less do the same thing and this was an opportunity to be surrounded by just those kind of people.

This is where the disappointment sets in. In my mind I pictured this to be a gun show on crack with booths and booths of tactical gear, survival surplus and everything you could think of that dealt with homesteading and living off the grid. I am not saying it was bad, what I am saying is that it was not what I had pictured.
Every other booth was selling freeze dried food, no guns and very little to no survival gear with the biggest item sold being the Life Straw and other water filters.
There were a few Homesteading booths selling mostly stuff for canning and one General Store type, but the Expo was mainly set up for the inner city prepper.
The two really cool things they had were the huge bunker set up outside you could tour and Jackie Clay from Backwoods Home Magnetize. She is an inspiration to all the Homesteading community and I got the chance to shake her hand tell her so.

I had fun and enjoyed being out and talking with the people that I talked to. I think I would rather stick to the Gun shows though.
Speaking of, there is one next month right down the road from me I might just have to attend.

I did pick up an old Mosin 91/30 this weekend and ran a box through it on Sunday. That thing kicks like a mule.

How lucky to have a show near you! My husband is a lover of the gun shows too, he just went to one Saturday morning. Our back back yard which is cleaned up walkable woods has the coolest targets set up everywhere. Even my girls like to shoot guns once in awhile. Me, I think they are too loud and they scare my animals, so my husband got me an antique long bow, I don't have arrows yet but when I get them I am going to learn to shoot this QUIET weapon ☺

Kelly, Earplugs?I like the Bow but I also like to reach out and touch something about 300 yards away as well.There is a gun show this month just down the road from me and I really need to get a few things. I can't wait.

SBF, Then I guess it is a hex. The one I got is a 43 and I like it. I think I might get another one just because they are so inexpensive. I wish I could find a scope mount where I did not have to rework the bolt.

i have had descriptions of these expos and with your description included i have come to the conclusion that it would be probably a waste of my time and money to go to one of these. thank you! in the meantime, while saving my money i will keep up with my junkin, restoring and recycling, gardening and canning, sewing and wildcrafting.. i am feeling like we have no time to waste in developing skills that will be helpful in living the lifestyle of years ago...things are becoming rapidly more expensive and the drumbeats around the world are becoming louder.

Anony, I wouldn't say it was a waste of time all together, for some of the people it was great. It was good to see some of the new products that have come out that I haven't seen yet. As you know the development of the skills needed is an ongoing thing. There are many things I have yet to learn that I really need to get into. Maybe this fall everything will come together and I will get a chance to do just that. Thanks for the comment.

I love the bow as well, but I can also understand that there is a sense of urgency with being able to "reload" and aim faster with a gun. Guns have a place in our lives. Here in Texas, there are so many stories of people defending themselves from intruders, etc., with their ready guns that I cannot ignore the advantage.

My uncle always had a sign at his front door that read, "There's NOTHING in here worth losing your life over."

Lana, your uncle sounds like a guy I would like. A friend of mine was over the other day and he saw some of my firearms that I have placed in strategic locations throughout the house and asked what I was scared of. I simply told him "Not a damn thing".